The Produce That Could Prevent Diabetes

Pile some purple on your plate. Darker fruits can slash your diabetes risk, finds a new study from Harvard University.

Researchers found three servings a week of grapes, blueberries, raisins, or prunes reduced people's diabetes odds by as much as 12 percent. The reason: Dark-hued fruits are rich with anthocyanins and resveratrol, two polyphenols that may help improve glucose metabolism and sensitivity and fend off diabetes, says study author Qi Sun, Sc.D.

But stick with whole fruits and skip the juice. In the study, drinking fruit juice actually upped diabetes risk by 8 percent. Compared to whole fruit, which is rich in fiber to slow digestion, drinking juice results in a more rapid glucose and insulin response because fluids are more quickly absorbed.

Plus, some diabetes-blocking phytonutrients are lost during juicing, making grape juice, for example, less nutritious than a bunch of grapes.

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